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I am Professor and Chair of the Department of Political Science and Public Administration at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. I am also the editor of the academic journal The Latin Americanist.

Thursday, April 28, 2011

Obama may not be a good leader but he has good timing: ramp up immigration reform groups in the spring; work with congressional leaders to draft legislation in the summer; propose a bill in the fall. Then he can spend early winter watching Republicans tear apart the idea — and themselves — in time for the New Hampshire primary in February 2012. Obama can waltz through next year's campaign with the confidence that he'll do fairly well with Latinos who will show up to vote not for him but against the Republican candidate.

Maybe. But this does not adequately explore the possibility that Latinos (and others) will stay home rather than vote against Republicans. At any rate, it is hard to see any "waltzing" in Obama's future.

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Latinos will wake up early and go to vote for Obama - That is my informed guess, it is a matter of work in canvassing, registering voters, creating enthusiasm, phone calls, meetings, big fight against gerrymandering in Texas and elsewhere, .... etc

And do not forget fights in courts.

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Judge Bea upheld the injunction against the provisions of SB 1070 making illegal presence a state crime and making it a state crime for someone who is here illegally to work. There's no reason to believe that a broader 9th Circuit panel or the Supreme Court will see it differently

Arizona Republic says that "SB 1070 is toast" and the dissent of Judge Bea does not help :

The heart of SB 1070 was to make illegal immigration a state crime, adjudicated in state courts and punished in state penal institutions. Judge Bea said no can do.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision upholding the injunction against several key provisions of Senate Bill 1070, Arizona's contentious immigration law, hasn't received the careful consideration it deserves.

Brewer and Attorney General Tom Horne airily dismissed the decision as what you would expect from 9th Circuit liberals and pointed to the dissent by Judge Carlos Bea.

I agree that the dissent is the most important part of the decision. And it says that SB 1070 is toast.......................

Bea did say that the most controversial part of SB 1070, the provision requiring local law enforcement to follow up on reasonable suspicion of illegal status, wasn't preempted by federal law. I think he's right about that.

Bea, however, went on to say that all local law-enforcement officials could do about it was notify the feds. What the feds did after that was entirely up to them.

So, even under Bea's dissent, SB 1070 would be a hollow shell. There's no reason to believe that a broader 9th Circuit panel or the Supreme Court will see it differently..

Illegal immigration is a national problem this state law could not begin to address. SB 1070 was so clearly an intrusion into federal jurisdiction that key provisions were halted by federal District Court Judge Susan Bolton before they took effect. The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld that injunction, with noted conservative Judge John Noonan agreeing that provisions of SB 1070 are unconstitutional.

More legal battles lie ahead. They will sap state resources and keep Arizona in an unflattering spotlight.

Arizona's sense of unity also took a beating because of SB 1070.

Latinos make up nearly a third of the state's population. They are part of Arizona's heritage and its future. But SB 1070 made even third-generation Arizona Latinos feel like targets for enhanced law-enforcement scrutiny.

The law created an atmosphere so ugly that Republican state Sen. Lori Klein felt justified in reading a letter full of anti-Latino slurs on the floor of the Senate.

This is where SB 1070 brought us.

Sixty executives from major state business interests successfully called on lawmakers to reject a new round of immigration bills this year.

This is where the horrible experience of SB 1070 should take us. Arizonans have to continue to speak out against the SB 1070 approach.

Lessons are being learned elsewhere.

The wave of copycat bills in other states has largely fizzled - even in Kansas, where SB 1070 architect Kris Kobach is secretary of state. He couldn't sell his state this poison.

Meanwhile, Utah took a look at what Arizona did and crafted a comprehensive approach that includes a state guest-worker program. It acknowledges the complexity of illegal immigration and makes a humane commitment to family values and children. Arizona considered - and rejected - a similar approach several years ago.

Instead, the state bought into a false promise that remains a colossal mistake a year later..

My wife's boss was one of those brought in to the White House for a discussion and photo op the other day (along with Piolin, Eva Longoria, Wilder Valderama and mostly other celebrities). A lot of peope are saying it was pretty cynical to bring in a lot of celebrities, rather than people who have been in the trenches fighting for reform...

Miami Herald : "Immigration bill dies in Florida Legislature" - "An immigration crackdown proposal died in the annual lawmaking session", "House and Senate lawmakers reached the end of the 60-day session without an agreement".The proposal was so thorny that even Sen. JD Alexander, the budget chief tasked with shepherding the bill on the floor, ultimately voted against the bill.

“I should have probably voted for it,” Alexander, R-Lake Wales, told reporters. “As I got into it more and more, I got more and more uncomfortable with it. I didn’t feel morally I could make that choice.”

The Miami HeraldImmigration bill dies in Florida LegislatureAn immigration crackdown proposal died in the annual lawmaking session, but looks likely to come back next year.By Patricia MazzeiHerald/Times Tallahassee BureauFriday, May 6, 2011

Immigration bill dies in Florida Legislature

Some excerpts :

TALLAHASSEE -- The fierce fight to crack down on illegal immigration ended — for this year — in the Florida Legislature on Friday when House and Senate lawmakers reached the end of the 60-day session without an agreement.

State senators signed off on their more lenient proposal on Wednesday. But by then, it was too late for the House to take up the measure.

On Friday, Gov. Rick Scott told a Fox-affiliated radio station in the Florida Panhandle that lawmakers should have passed an immigration bill — but there’s always next year.

“Weve got the next session, Scott said in an appearance on “Freedom in the Morning with Wolfe and Andi.” “We’ve got to get ready for the next session and let everybody we elect know that it’s important to us.”

Scott campaigned heavily in last year’s Republican primary — even suggesting a special lawmaking session — for an Arizona-style proposal, giving law enforcement broader power to check a person’s immigration status and requiring businesses to use the federal government’s E-Verify system.

Scott mentioned his executive order forcing agencies to use E-Verify. “There’s limitation on what you can do through executive order,” he added. “I’ve done what I can.”

The bills drew staunch opposition from a powerful and wide-ranging set of interests, from big business to religious groups to immigration advocates. Yet Republicans are already taking flak from tea-party types for failing to pass any reforms — a political liability for Senate President Mike Haridopolos, who is running for U.S. Senate..